President Trump signed into law a spending bill that pairs full-year fiscal year (FY) 2019 funding for Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) and Defense
with a stopgap measure to keep other agencies funded through December—staving off a partial government shutdown on the eve of the end of the fiscal
year. Here’s a breakdown of how global health and medical research funding fared.

For many mothers and babies around the world, the first 48 hours after birth are the most dangerous of their lives. For eight years, Saving Lives at Birth—spearheaded
by USAID—has challenged problem solvers worldwide to create innovative solutions to make birth safer and save lives. Here are ten incredible innovations
from this initiative:

2018 is shaping up to be another important year for US policy related to global health and medical research. As Congress returns for a busy work session
and the White House continues to roll out policy reforms, here are the top five issues GHTC will be following in 2018.

As we close out our 10th anniversary year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on our shared progress and celebrate the headlines and moments that shaped
global health R&D over the past decade. Check out some of the highlights...

On Tuesday, the Trump Administration released its full fiscal year 2018 budget proposal. This budget proposes significant cuts to programs that support
global health and medical research at the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the US Agency for International
Development.

At his nomination hearing, Secretary of State–designee Rex Tillerson was questioned on women’s empowerment, family planning, development aid, and the President’s
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). GHTC covers what he had to say.

During the pitches at the Saving Lives at Birth DevelopmentXChange, the questions being asked were not how large the market, but how great the need, and
not how much money can be made, but how many lives could be saved.

On Wednesday evening, GHTC was joined on Capitol Hill by congressional champions—Congressman Adam Smith (WA-9) and Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-4)—and global health community members for a reception celebrating US leadership in global health research and development (R&D) and the launch of the 2015 G-FINDER report, which tracks investment in neglected disease R&D.

Luminol has long been used to detect blood at crime scenes, as it glows bright blue when it comes into contact with the blood protein hemoglobin, however, new research suggests that it could be repurposed to fight malaria in humans.

In this guest post, Heather Ignatius—senior policy and advocacy officer at PATH—writes about a new bipartisan piece of legislation to accelerate progress towards ending preventable child and maternal deaths.

Last Wednesday 53 teams of innovators gathered at the International Trade Center in Washington, DC, for the Saving Lives at Birth DevelopmentXChange—an event resembling a cross between a science fair and an episode of Shark Tank.

United States President Barack Obama announced last week his intent to nominate Gayle Smith, senior director for Development and Democracy at the National Security Council, to lead the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced last week that Ariel Pabos-Mendez, the assistant administrator for Global Health, will serve as the coordinator for Child and Maternal Survival.

As the first-ever US-Africa Leaders Summit came to a close last week, it was clear that the energy around the partnerships between the United States and African nations are strong and building momentum.

“Innovation can’t take place if people say we don’t need new tools,” said Partners in Health Co-founder Paul Farmer at an event sponsored by the Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development program last week in Washington, DC.

During the past year, leaders from the US Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC)—an advocacy organization promoting diplomacy and development—have traveled across America seeking out innovators and innovations that best demonstrate how strategic US investments in global development can enhance America’s foreign policy and security interests—an approach USGLC calls “smart power” diplomacy.

While lawmakers battled it out on the field last week during the annual Congressional Baseball Game (Democrats won for the sixth year in a row!), they found something they could join together on as the House Appropriations Committee easily approved the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee’s (SFOPS) appropriations bill on Tuesday afternoon.

As the DC summer kicks into full swing, Congress has had a busy month moving forward fiscal year (FY) 2015 funding legislation for a variety of government programs including global health research and development (R&D).

The global health research community has a reason to celebrate this weekend. Yesterday, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced in the US Senate a significant piece of global health legislation that would strengthen global health research programming within the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and improve coordination of global health research and development (R&D) across the US government.

As more detailed information about the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget requests to Congress is released, the results continue to be a mixed bag for global health research and development (R&D).

“You’re in a position to make such a difference and to be innovative with your thinking,” Margaret McCluskey, senior technical advisor at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said to an audience of Congressional staffers at a briefing yesterday on Capitol Hill.

“A small, modest investment from the US government could truly transform the lives of people around the world and make a serious public health impact,” Rachel Cohen from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative said yesterday at a congressional briefing focused on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Earlier this month, Reps. Albio Sires (D-NJ) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) introduced the 21st Century Global Health Technology Act, which would make several important and welcome changes to global health research and development (R&D) programs at the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

In this guest post, Kristina Gryboski—technical advisor for the Child Survival and Health Grants Program at the US Agency for International Development (USAID)—writes about the importance of partnerships to advance health research.

For more than 30 years, PATH has been working to advance innovative global health solutions. Partnering is a core part of PATH’s strategy and is fundamental
to how we develop and deliver high-impact, cost-effective technologies.

Earlier this week, the GHTC and other global health and international development advocates called on the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee to fully fund key programs in the foreign affairs budget.

“I can’t think of a reason why academic scientists should not engage in global health research,” Dr. Dennis Kyle, distinguished university health professor at the University of South Florida, said last week at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) annual conference.

In this guest post, E. Callie Raulfs-Wang –research advisor for the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact—writes about the relationship between research and evidence when developing and delivering new global health products.

In this guest post, Molly Schmalzbach—public affairs analyst in the Office of HIV/AIDS at the US Agency for International Development (USAID)—discusses the agency’s support for research to develop new HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) products.

Although we’re several days into sequestration, details about the full impact of funding cuts are still hazy. On Friday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report to Congress, which details funding cuts required to offset $85 billion in the fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget.

During last week’s State of the Union address, President Obama called on policymakers to find a solution to the federal budget debate before sequestration—or widespread and indiscriminate cuts to all federal programs—takes place next month.